Arnold Gessells Maturational Perspective

Arnold Gesell 's Maturational Perspective

Introduction

The psychologist , Arnold Gesell (1880-1961 , is one of the first psychologists to comprehensively associate the components of physical social , and emotional achievements among children most especially ages five . Gesell has focuses in his theoretical approach on developmental norms derived from other developmental theoretical foundations (e .g psychoanalysis - stages of development , Piaget 's theories of development , etc . According to Piek (2005 , Gesell 's theoretical propositions on development and maturation are founded using his experiences and studies in directing the Clinic of Child Development (p .34

Gesell 's focus in these developmental milestones has resulted to his theoretical proposition of maturational perspective of child development , which connotes the idea of child development based on planned , naturalistic and predetermined patterns of life . As for the study , the main emphasis is on Arnold Gesell 's maturational theory which tackles the issues based on (1 ) historical significance of Gesell 's maturational theory (2 ) application of the theory , and (3 criticisms of the theoretical perspective

Discussion

Overview on Arnold Gesell 's Maturational Theory

The most notable achievement of Gesell is his proposition of the "normative " approach in studying children . Gesell has formulated his normative perspective pertaining on the maturational milestones of children , which implies a fixed and pre-plan of development . Researchers who have studied the development of young children from a maturational perspective most often describe similarities in the behaviors of typically developing children (Slentz and Krogh 2001

.17 . According to Piek (2005 , the work of Gesell has been considered as one of the most influential theoretical concepts in the 21st century pediatric principles . Arnold Gesell has investigated the development of both movement and cognition , dividing them into the functional categories of (1 ) motor (2 ) adaptive (3 ) language and (4 ) personal-social behavior (p .34 . The theory of Gesell explores the developmental changes the child 's body or behavior as a result of a normal physiologic development he termed as maturation . The aging process or so-called maturational perspective is his idea of child 's patterned development being dictated by the pre-planned natural maturational course

According to Slentz and Krogh (2001 , Gesell has observed thousands of young children , especially during his experience in directing the Clinic of Child Development at Yales in 1915 , and documented the precise timing and sequence of milestones according to the functional categories of his analysis (p .17 . Gesell 's perspective of maturation is evidently derived from the biological , physiological , and evolutionary fields of child development . Hence , Gesell proposes a...